In his new novel, author Bill Rowe imagines a former British PM fascinated with his First Nations roots and driven by time to share his story

“You found the place,” Bill Rowe exclaims as I pull up to the driveway.  

He greets me at the door of his writing retreat, an apartment in the shadow of Signal Hill. Rowe’s eyes are what you notice first, eager for the next exciting conversation. 

Despite a career going back to the 1960’s – broadly distributed between politics, radio host, commentator, writer, and when he had the time, law – he’s not in any way “talked out.”

“What motivated me in life was writing,” he confesses.

“While I was on the radio – and after – I succeeded in putting together 13 books. When I look back on it, it’s a rather phenomenal thing for someone who was also practicing law. It was a busy time, so I was glad to get time freed up to concentrate on writing. It doesn’t make me write faster, but more thoughtfully, more profoundly.”

Writing tends to be a one-way conversation: the writer communicating thoughts and ideas to a reader. Yet, knowing who you’re writing for is a valuable consideration and Rowe says his time as an open line host and politician gave him and appreciation for how people in the province talk and speak to each other.

Boyhood Dream

“Especially ‘around the bay,’ as we say in Newfoundland,” he adds.  

“To hear people expressing themselves, the words they choose, the cadence of their voices.  Especially women!

“It really is fascinating and I try to make sure that gets into my prose, brought in through the dialogue, incorporating a lot of Newfoundland and Labrador words and idioms, that kind of thing. That’s what I took from being on the radio.”

Like so many born during or around the time of the Second World War, Winston Churchill has loomed large in the life of Bill Rowe. He says writing about ‘the great man’ had been rumbling around his mind “since I was a boy.”

“He spent the first two years of the War, if not feeling alone, seeming alone against the German rampage over Europe. It took a couple of years – and some serendipity – to get the Americans involved.”

Churchill, the man, was nearly American by birth. His mother, Jennie, was born in Brooklyn and it’s those Yankee Doodle roots that provided Rowe with a rich playground to imagine a Churchill who spends his remaining months on Earth exploring those roots by reaching out to a young student, William Cull.

Rowe relies upon his own experiences as a student in London during the beginning of the Swinging Sixties to open his latest book, The Reincarnation of Winston Churchill. The story centers on William Cull, a student from Newfoundland, who encounters a world that seems like one great salon of British culture. Cull sees early shows from comic actors who would later become members of Monty Python. 

He befriends a pre-incarceration version of the novelist, Jeffrey Archer. Even a pre-fab Beatles get a cameo. So let there be no doubt of the setting.

Through circumstance and connections, Cull eventually comes under the gaze of Churchill. Rowe paints a portrait of a diminished political leader but still a man of fortitude and, as it turns out, gratitude for Newfoundland’s role in the War, both for England and America.

Soon, Cull becomes ever-present to Churchill as the young student can hardly say no to the man who has roped him into chronicling some of his final stories. Churchill has become besotted by his First Nations roots and wants Cull to record it for posterity. 

“Churchill was very proud of his indigenous ancestry,” Rowe says. “One time, [U.S. President] Roosevelt said to Churchill, ‘You know, Winston, my ancestors were amongst the first to settle on Manhattan Island.’ And Churchill replies, ‘And you know, Franklin, my ancestors welcomed them here when they came ashore.’”

The Churchill of history is remembered with a complicated legacy; resolute and tactical at war, racist and imperial with many cultures not British.

Still, Churchill fought for the statehood of Israel and it’s that side of the man which Rowe chooses to produce the former prime minister’s curiousity about his indigenous heritage. 

Yet, rather than have an affinity with their connection to the Earth and its precious eco-system, it should be no surprise a warlike lad like Churchill muses if his indigenous heritage has somehow made him the warrior he has been.  

“Churchill said he knew he was a man of destiny. He recovered from accidents and attempts to assassinate him. At one point, William Cull asks the PM’s secretary, Montague Brown, if he might die before he finishes telling this story.

“And Churchill predicted the day of his death, in January of 1965, 70 years to the day after his own father died.”

His Story Told

Perhaps impending demise creates the manner in which Rowe’s version of Churchill speaks throughout the book.  Less “we shall fight on the beaches…” and more a man manic to finish this business and get his story told.

By novel’s end, Bill Rowe may be asking readers who have descended from European settlers and colonists, if they can see that it’s still possible to reconcile our past and heritage. Despite the passing of decades, even centuries, it is not too late to tell the stories.  And for Rowe, this was a story he had to tell.

For more information  on Bill Rowe and The Reincarnation of Winston
Churchill and to purchase a copy, visit boulderbooks.ca or on their social medias.

Toronto-born writer and hand-knitter Karla Courtney, author of Poppy’s House, has been working in publishing for over 18 years. Having studied at the University of Western Ontario, she also completed a one year exchange to the University of Heidelberg in Germany.

Karla met her now husband there, and the couple relocated to Australia where she began her first writing job working on a series of magazines for the shipping and boating industries. In 2007, she accepted a position with Qantas Travel Insider magazine as online editor.

During Karla’s position with Qantas, she was asked to write a piece about a dream holiday she took as a child where she wrote about visiting Newfoundland and Labrador for the first time, and spending time with her grandfather. 

“The open spaces, salt air, kelp-strewn beaches and rocky cliffs were completely new for me. It was my first time getting out of the city (Toronto) and my first time seeing the ocean,” Karla shared in a one-on-one interview with The Herald. 

“There was also this warm sense of community I had never before experienced. Everyone always had their back door open and there always seemed to be a party in the kitchen. I loved hearing the sea shanty style songs with booming voices and a banging ugly stick, and being allowed to have a real cup of tea, served, of course, with Carnation milk.” 

Writing dream

Prior to chasing the writing dream, Karla was a young girl living in the big city of Toronto with her single mother, who at the time was completing her college studies. Her mother met David Courtney, a young man from Newfoundland and Labrador, and he very quickly became a father figure for Karla. After the couple were married, they took her on her first trip to Newfoundland, where she met David Courtney’s father, Eric Courtney, better known as Poppy. 

“The family instantly accepted me as their own, and I felt very at ease and welcome,” Karla explained.

It wasn’t long before Karla began regularly spending her summers with her grandfather. Born and raised on Woody Island, Eric Courtney lived much of his life with no running water or electricity. 

He worked in logging camps, fished for lobster, and built houses before moving to St. John’s where he worked on construction projects, including the Placentia Bay resettlement.

The piece that Karla wrote for Qantas magazine about her holidays to Newfoundland and spending time with her poppy was read by a literary agent while travelling from Sydney to New York. Karla was later contacted by the agent, who proposed the idea of a children’s book based on the article she had written. 

“While I had done a bit of writing previously, mostly magazine features and I had also written two knitting books, I had never imagined I would be given the opportunity to write such a personal story about a place and people I love so much,” Karla shared. 

Living in the moment

“I worked closely with the agent to write the story, she found a publisher, and the rest is history.”

The children’s book tells a very simple tale following a young girl as she travels to an island ‘far beyond the end of the road’ to visit her grandfather. 

Together, they bake bread, chop wood, pick berries, and even knit. The idea of living in the moment seems so simple, yet it is truly complex. Poppy’s House navigates the idea of never feeling the need to look at the clock on the wall, living in the moment, and intergenerational bonding. 

“Poppy is a very humble and quiet man – when I first showed him the book he was honoured and surprised. He quietly took it all in, said ‘my oh my’ a few times, and gave me a big smile. Then he just got on with things – cut some cake and boiled the kettle for a cup of tea,” Karla shared.

Karla currently resides in the UK with her husband and 11-year-old son, who has followed in his mother’s footsteps in terms of enjoying his annual vacations to The Rock. 

“I am grateful that just before COVID I spent a great deal of time in Newfoundland. In spring and summer of 2018 we spent four months living in St John’s, and in May 2019 I was able to return to celebrate Poppy’s 90th birthday! I wasn’t able to visit in 2020 due to travel restrictions, and returned in August 2021 for one week with my parents when travel was allowed again.”

Both Karla and her poppy, Eric Courtney, will be at Chapters on Kenmount Road July 13 from 2-4pm for a Poppy’s House signing & giveaway of Karla’s hand knitted lobsters. For more visit karlacourtney.com and follow her on Instagram: @Karlacourtney. 

Kathryn Taylor knows the setup. She’s had her share of stints on the other side of the questioning. This time, though, Taylor is the author opposite of an interviewers line of questioning. 

Taylor, the longtime host and producer of Let’s Get Writing and Exploits Central with an extensive background in communications, sits down with The Herald in the wake of the release of her debut novel Misty’s Misadventures, a romantic comedy described as Bridget Jones meeting The Gilmore Girls.

The scale of a book

“I felt a bit like a fish out of water myself, which sometimes my character Misty feels like,” Taylor begins honestly.

“When I first started this journey, I started asking people, how do you write a book? How do you do this? I know I’ve written for newspaper, I’ve written a gazillion press releases and profiles, but I haven’t thought about the scale of a book. And the biggest piece of advice I got was write about what you know.”

Taylor would do just that, channeling her background in television production, hosting and writing, as well as the ingrained knowledge and wisdom of raising children and the movement through time that brought the Grand Falls native back to Newfoundland and Labrador after 25 years to conjure Misty Muldoon, the protagonist of her debut novel Misty’s Misadventures.

“All those feelings were raw and fresh in my mind. So I tapped into them,” she shared. “Those were things I drew into the book, but not autobiographically, because Misty definitely had different things going on (laughs).”

Set in Charlie’s Cove, NL, Taylor’s debut novel finds Misty, a divorcee who reluctantly returns to her roots, beginning again with a new sense of belonging, and a new love interest to boot. 

Laugh at life

There are of course challenges and tribulations along the way, with Taylor introducing readers to a whole slate of colourful characters ready-made for a  guilt-free popcorn flick rom-com or fireside binge read.

“I think the idea came so long ago when I was coming home and was so resistant to the idea. I felt like, oh, goodness, moving back to an island? I’m moving back to a lot of things that I felt I left behind,” Taylor shared honestly. 

“Moving back to my hometown. I was used to being in a city and not a town. So I think the ideas started bubbling then, but it took a while for it to perk. I think there was always an idea to set it here and I’ve always felt the Newfoundland had such an amazing culture,” she adds warmly. 

“When I grew up here I was very involved in theater and writing and performing. It was just so much fun. And then when I came back and landed in the middle of the dental practice and started to interact with people from all the small communities that would come in, right from the person who lays their dentures on the counter-top and says ‘what can you do for me?’ To one that comes in and the woman gets the new teeth and looks at her brother and he goes, ‘well, now you fixed your teeth. What can you do for her face?’ (laughs). So that really cemented it. I think the two years when I first came home, I just really saw with fresh eyes the humour. And I love humor. I love writing funny things, and I like to laugh at life and I like to see the humour in things. So that switched me.”

Seedlings planted

Joking that she’s “very good at getting the spotlight on other people,” albeit “much less so” for herself, Taylor navigates the at times taxing role of an author, and all the pitfalls of the literary game.

“I feel a little more reserved because you always have that thing, well what if people don’t like it? What if they don’t like what I’ve done? And you take it so personally because what if they don’t like it turns into what if they don’t like me? And it’s crazy to feel like that, but I think that bit of insecurity comes to the surface despite all the things in my life that I’ve done successfully, when it’s your own stuff that you put out there.”

Though with a successful launch in her back-pocket, seedlings planted to make Misty into a series and even a planned screen adaptation, there’s plenty to be optimistic about for this first time author with imagination to spare.

“I’m still learning this game and learning how to write. When I think of someone or some of the authors I interview, they figured out kind of this formula of what makes a book and how to create the characters. When I wrote this, I wrote it by the seat of my pants,” she laughs. 

A blank canvas

“I think when you figure out who your readers are, you write your stories, but you write for them, too. And that’s what helps you write those other books, because you kind of know and you’re not just looking at a blank canvas, you kind of know that here’s who’s reading and here’s what I’d like to write for them.

“I wanted a book that I knew that women might pick up and read and have a laugh. Nothing too heavy. They’ve dealt with the kids, they’ve dealt with whatever, and they just want to escape for a while. And I wanted to do that and I wanted to put it in the Newfoundland setting.”

For more on the works of Kathryn Taylor including Misty’s Misadventures and Let’s Get Writing visit kathryntaylor.ca

Composed in a time of true change both career-wise and globally, That Was You And Me finds the chemistry of the duo in full force, with raw and honest songwriting meeting a stripped down vulnerability and unquestioned talent.

“The pandemic was this ultimate kind of audit of life,” shared O’Brien in a sitdown with The Herald. “And then when I got down to it, we were able to focus on important life changes and just rest and self-care, getting back to each other. And that was the catalyst for all this kind of creative, almost like a personal, creative renaissance.”

Adds Allan, “One thing about having that extra time, because the majority of the songs were written pre-pandemic, we really got to like live inside them when we actually demoed them ourselves and bounce ideas back and forth with Josh (Van Tassel, producer). We really got to live them and it was such a good distraction and sort of therapeutic to really get inside those songs.”

‘That Was You And Me’ arrives on June 3rd. For more information on the album and touring information visit fortunateones.ca. Stay tuned to The Herald for our full-length sit-down with Fortunate Ones. 

What is place? And how do we find belonging in that place? 

Multi-talented artist Heather Nolan searches for meaning in Land of The Rock: Talamh and Carraig, a poetic exploration of place and belonging that took the dexterous author, musician and photographer (among other skills) across Newfoundland and Labrador and Ireland. 

This is Agatha Falling

“It was an intense project,” Nolan shared of her collection. “Especially taking this on before I really had any kind of validation. I wrote this around the same time as I was writing Agatha (This is Agatha Falling, her now celebrated and award-winning novel). Agatha hadn’t been accepted or published yet. So it was kind of like I had no idea if I’m writing publishable work, or if I’m just going to invest like five years of my life and all of my spare income into traveling through these places and writing this book with no external validation happening.”

With the critical adoration of This is Agatha Falling, which was long-listed for the BMO Winterset Award and ReLit Award, Nolan now had the clout to tackle her ambitious, globe-trotting collection of poetry, though the method and scope did not begin to form until her maiden voyage to the Emerald Isle. 

“The first time I went to Ireland was when I started writing this. I didn’t intend to. Fun fact; at the time I was like I’m probably never going to write anything of any value to anyone. So maybe I’ll just write a kid’s book or something. At least then I can say I’ve written something. So I was going to go to Ireland and write a kid’s book about Irish myths, just because I wanted to write something. Then I at least would get the impulse out of my system and I could move on with my life. 

‘Tick of Validation’

“When I was there I wrote two or three poems, kind of with no real purpose or intention. It just kind of happened as I was walking around looking at stuff. I got home and a lot of the ideas I’ve been thinking about and wrote in those poems about just kept circulating. And it was largely like the broad ideas of what does it mean to be connected to a place that you’re not really from? A place you don’t actually have any connection to? And what do you expect when you go to somewhere like this versus what you actually find? Those kinds of ideas. Probably like three poems in I sat down and mapped out the whole project and exactly what I wanted it to be. 

“When Agatha was accepted, it was just kind of like that was all I needed. That one little tick of validation, I’m just never going to shut up now (laughs). Like, I have so many things to say. Just let me roam free.”

A celebrated photographer and musician, the pandemic allowed Nolan time, real time for perhaps the first time, to dive head on into her literary ambitions.

“I kind of made this decision where I was like if this year is the year that I go bankrupt or something, so be it. There’s nothing I can do about that right now. But what I do have right now is time and I’m going to pretend to be a full time writer. I’m just going to pretend. I’m going to put myself in there as hard as I can and work hard, see what I can make happen,” she shared, explaining that she wrote her first novel when she was 15, one she joked was “ridiculous” and “terrible,” but not without merit. 

“It made no sense. It was a bad book, but that’s something I set out to do when I was 15-years-old. And that need to do that has never not been with me,” she shared. 

‘Dabble in all the arts’

“I was 15. I had no taste. I had no idea what the f**k I was at. It took a really long time to kind of develop those skills. And I’m also not the world’s most patient person. So sometime around the age of like 20 I was like, ‘well, I’m 20- years-old and I still haven’t published a book so it’s not for me, I guess,’ which is ridiculous. In the back of my mind that was always the actual dream, but I just didn’t think I was capable of it for a long time. And so I continued to dabble in all the arts because that’s just fun for me.”

With This is Agatha Falling a celebrated hit, and her ambitious collection of poetry published, Nolan sets to work on multiple projects that yet again stretch her abilities and creativity. 

There’s the upcoming How to Be Alone on Boulevard Saint-Laurent, a fictional  combination of two novellas tentatively due next year, and yet another book already on deck. Her creative drive, needless to say, is kicked into high gear.

“From that one tick of validation of ‘this has been accepted for publication,’ (This is Agatha Falling), that was like a gateway for me of what I needed in order to feel confident in going forward with this work and I’m going to keep creating these things,” Nolan shared proudly. 

“I think the most satisfaction I can get out of a piece of work is when I feel like I’ve done the best thing that I could do, or I feel like I made some kind of breakthrough in my own methods of communication or creating … I’m currently at the point where I just get to dig in and see what happens. And that’s the most exciting thing in the world. It’s very daunting, but so exciting.”

For more on the works of Heather Nolan visit heathernolan.ca 

Ray Andrews has led what most would consider an enviable life. From growing up in the picturesque fishing community of Port de Grave to a career spent as a senior advisor on the fishery with provincial, federal, and territorial governments, Andrews has had many memorable experiences. When we sat down to chat about his first book, thrillingly titled Something Fishy, Andrews and I first bonded over our mutual love and respect of the fishery and those who rely on it to earn a living. We also jumped right into another topic we both felt passionate about: politics. Andrews offered he was blessed to have both those passions shape his life and his career. 

“I had a lifetime of fish, I guess you could say, and a half lifetime of politics. Both of those shaped my life,” he began. 

When he sat down and thought about writing a book, he realized he had things worth sharing.  

Back-room Conversations

“There’s things fishy that the public don’t know about when it comes to politics, and as a bureaucrat, you get those back-room conversations and first-hand knowledge of what goes on, or what almost goes on. And so I considered all of the things that I wanted to write about and said, everybody, but everybody has written about the history of the moratorium, for instance, but I want to add my little spins on the fishery-side of politics on some of that history.”

Using copious notes and files from years spent advising governments, along with his own diary entries, Andrews paints a picture in Something Fishy that’d make even the most secure head spin. 

“I took the issues of the day and made them a little fishy by adding what happened behind the scenes. There’s a few bits of humor and quite a bit of background stuff in there that didn’t become public before now,” he teased. 

Front Row Seat

John Crosbie. Brian Peckford. Clyde Wells. Danny Williams. Tom Rideout. Trevor Taylor. Jim Morgan. Walter Carter. They’re all in there, and there’s delightful yarns to spin on all. From accusations of shredded files to Tobin’s turbot war, Andrews had a front row seat. 

We ask if Andrews had a favourite period – or person he worked with and advised – in his career. 

“I’m one of those who got up and with minor, minor exceptions, loved every day that I went to work. I worked well and enjoyed working with a lot of people, including the fish people and the political people, so it’s hard to put a single person out front.” 

But, he admitted, there are two stand outs and they were Tom Rideout and John Crosbie. 

“Of course, Tom was in the provincial scene and Crosbie – Skipper John – was on the national scene. They both were very different people, but the part that I really, really enjoyed is that they were workaholics and I think I might have been one myself,” he said with a grin.

The second thing he noted about those two gentlemen was that they always looked for other opinions. “I could say to both men easily, ‘I’m going to tell you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear.’ And I said ‘the reason I do that is that my role as a deputy minister, or political advisor, is to make you look good. 

If you listen to me, you might look good. If you don’t listen to me, you’re not going to look good.’” One message Andrews hopes comes across in Something Fishy is the role of the bureaucrat. 

“I think there’s a lot of people who don’t really fully appreciate that. Sometimes you get this old adage that a bureaucrat, or ‘those government people’ don’t do much work anyway.  I gotta say, that’s so far from reality in many or most of the situations I was in. I worked probably a lot harder than many did in my lifetime, so don’t give me that line.”

‘A little bit blue’

In many cases, he continued, a minister can walk in and say, ‘here’s what I’d like to do within six months,’ and that’s all you have to go on. 

“You get a few lines and you run with it. Then there’s the advising piece. I’d say, ‘Minister, that is not going to be a good result publicly. I think it’s a wonderful idea and you might think it’s wonderful but you have not been in the trenches or in the job around the south coast and you have not been confronted by the people that you’re going to impose this additional policy on. You’re looking for votes or not?’” There’s so much ‘fishy’ in Something Fishy, including the fact that Andrews was fired by Clyde Wells for being “a little bit ‘blue.’”

“I grew up in a small town, Port de Grave. The town was so ‘red’ that my mother, when she worked in the polling booth, as you read there in the book, she sometimes came home at the end of a day and said ‘there was only two voted blue this time,’ and everybody kind of mocked the Andrews clan as solid Tories. You couldn’t escape that. That was part of your genes.”

Fishery in the Blood

Even though, he added, as a bureaucrat, he couldn’t recall ever favouring a political party in making a bureaucratic decision “partly because that was for the ministers to do.”   

The story of the firing unfolded. “When Mr. Wells came on board, he was certainly well informed on this guy Andrews. He had a very famous minister at the time, John Efford who was also from Port de Grave and I don’t think John ever made the mistake of thinking I was red,” Andrews laughed. He can chuckle now, though it wasn’t a good day back then. 

Andrews grew up around the fishery, in fact he says, “the fishery was in my blood.” So was hard work and community commitment. “As I look back now, I can honestly say that growing up in Port de Grave kind of triggered me to be doing a little more than required because of the competitiveness that existed back then. As I look back after 80 years, you will find that the fishermen and the people of Port de Grave took the lead on a lot of the research, development and promotion of the various aspects of the fishery. That’s the part that stuck with me, which maybe helped make me a workaholic. You have to do your best.”

What means a lot 

Andrews has a few goals, things he hopes folks who read Something Fishy come away with.

“My hope is that I would spur people to think that the bureaucracy is a very important part of our life. But I would add one part to it, and that is that in all of your life, your community based activity, and maybe you would use the word volunteer, but your community based activity means a lot. And while in the urban centers like St. John’s, it might not be as visible, if you’re in the rural parts of this province, the role of a volunteer or a community activist is probably needed even more so now than it was back then.”

For more on Andrews and Something Fishy visit drcpublishingnl.com

In 2016, Butler released This Marlowe. The gripping account of English playwright Christopher Marlowe’s last months of life before being brutally murdered under mysterious circumstances was listed for the ReLit Award and the Dublin International Literary Award. Now, five years later, she takes us on a riveting journey of love and tyranny set in 1937, during Stalin’s Great Purge and the Spanish Civil War.

Butler Hallett, described by novelist Christy-Ann Conlin as an “elemental” writer, was immersed in reading, writing, and all forms of art at an incredibly young age. Alongside an enormous collection of storybooks and records, she found herself diving head first into non-fiction book subscriptions pertaining to biography, science, and history. 

“I had a privileged childhood. My parents sacrificed a lot for all the read-along storybooks and records,” she shared in a one-on-one interview. 

“I read about a very wide variety of topics, people, and places. I still do, and this helps me develop empathy for other people. I am parched with curiosity, so thirsty to learn — though of course the more I learn, the less I know.”

Constant Nobody

A totally absorbing storyline accompanied by humorous dialogue, Constant Nobody brings together two flawed characters within a time of violence and immense suffering. A young British agent operating undercover as a nurse meets a NKVD (Soviet Secret Police) agent under unfortunate circumstances. Add in the tricky language of love and you have what the Barenaked Ladies would refer to as — Lovers in a Dangerous Time. 

“Violence, evil, love, and grace seem to be constants of the human condition: how we live, and how we’re shaped. I am fascinated by both the depths and heights of humanity and the tensions between them,” she explained.

RELATED: NEW & POPULAR
Writing World | Linden MacIntrye’s The Winter Wives
CONCERT | Johnny Reid Announces NL Tour
CONCERT| Alan Doyle to Make Live Theatre Debut

On the outside, it seems a story of violence and repression. However, between the layers of psychological suspense, you find a powerful tale articulating the dynamics and depth that come with human nature. 

“One theme of this novel is duty and how it’s perceived. I wanted to show how and why someone might do what Kotsya and Temerity do. If a reader takes something away from Constant Nobody, I hope it’s a sense of the complexities of empathy and responsibility.” 

Ochre Fest

Founded in 2013, Ochre Fest is an annual celebration of Newfoundland and Labrador books, music, art, food and culture. While the festival usually takes place in beautiful Ochre Pit Cove, Conception Bay, this year required a COVID-19 adjustment. Author readings, along with all other components including musical performances, were recorded in advance and premiered via Facebook and their website.

“I love reading to an audience, whether it’s in person or online. I also have some readings posted on my YouTube channel. I feel very strongly about being prepared for a reading. If someone’s bothered to come to a venue or check out a stream, then I had jolly well be ready to give it my best. It’s about respect for one’s audience,” Butler Hallett shared. 

“I’ve given many readings on the mainland, and a few here since I first published in 2006. This year’s Ochre Fest is my third time being invited to a festival here in Newfoundland and Labrador.”

Although I’m quite certain this won’t be the last incredible piece we see from Michelle Butler Hallett, this is the one you should run to purchase if you want to experience the addictive roller coaster of violence, evil, love, and grace.

You can grab your hard copy or eBook at www.gooselane.com. Hard copies are also available at Chapters and Coles, as well as The Bee’s Knees, one of Ochre Fest’s sponsors. To check out Ochre Fest updates visit www.ochrefest.ca

Linden MacIntyre has much to celebrate. Besides a 40-year career as one of Canada’s most accomplished broadcast and investigative journalists, he’s also a bestselling author.  

His first novel, The Long Stretch, was deemed “Mesmerizing,” by the National Post. 

The praise was well placed as The Long Stretch went on to become a national bestseller.

MacIntyre followed his debut novel with two acclaimed works of non-fiction, sticking to his journalistic roots for Who Killed Ty Conn?, an in-depth investigation into the controversial death of a convicted bank robber and prison escapee. The second, Causeway, was an elegant memoir of MacIntyre’s coming-of-age in Cape Breton.

‘The Wake’ & NL Roots

In 2009, MacIntyre returned to fiction with The Bishop’s Man, a poignant work that explored the nature of guilt, faith and the ramifications of the past on the present. The Bishop’s Man was awarded the Scotiabank Giller Prize and became a blockbuster number one bestseller.

Why Men Lie, a remarkable look at the complexities and contradictions in the relationships between men and women followed. Then, in the national bestseller Punishment, MacIntyre explored justice and vengeance within a tight-knit maritime community grappling with the loss of one of its own. But whether it’s 2017’s The Only Café or one of his earlier creative works, it’s MacIntyre connection to Newfoundland that stands out.

In 2019’s, MacIntyre penned  The Wake, an incredible work of non-fiction recounting that tragic moment in history when a tsunami hit the south coast of Newfoundland in 1929. 

RELATED: NEW & POPULAR
The Man in Black’s Greatest Hunt: Johnny Cash on The Rock
CONCERT | The Once Announce Christmas Tour
CONCERT| Fortunate Ones Announce East Canada Tour

As MacIntyre presented his latest, The Winter Wives, a thrilling new psychological drama that weaves together threads of crime, disability and dementia into a tale of unrequited love and delusion, he spoke with The Herald about his NL roots. 

“Well, you know, you have to have more than a birth certificate to be from a place, but I was born (in St. Lawrence). My father was a hard rock miner who traveled around in the mines when he and my mother first got married and he was working in the flurspar mine in St. Lawrence and I was born there and my sister was born there,” he began.

While the family moved quite a bit and eventually settled in Cape Breton, he never forgot his Newfoundland roots. 

“I never lost touch because, as you know, it’s very special. People in St. Lawrence – and my godmother was one of them, and she stayed in touch for as long as she was alive – people there are special. I never lost the sense that I had a connection with the place and it was a very happy period of my life.”

The Dramatic Story

It seemed their Newfoundland years had quite a hold on the entire family, he added. 

“My parents talked about it a lot and they talked about the friends they had there. It was quite a natural thing for me to try to check it out when I had an opportunity back in the 80s. And that’s when I became aware of the dramatic story of how that place had evolved over a number of years and of course, the climax of the tragedy was just sort of passing in the 80s. But I never got around to sticking my face in the story until much later when it was suggested to me by somebody in the publishing industry. They said, ‘well, that’s a heck of a story. Why don’t you write it sometime?’ And that’s how The Wake started.” 

The legacy of the Newfoundland tsunami that happened on the south coast captivated him, he shared. 

“The story of what happened on the south coast of the Burin Peninsula, where I first saw the light of day, was something that I felt should be told. It was fascinating to me,” he said.

We ask if the troubling legacy of the mine in St. Lawrence and the tragic cases of industrial diseases there inspired his journalism career. It certainly seemed like much of his work was focused on righting wrongs over the 24 years he spent as the co-host of The Fifth Estate.

“I am fueled by a sense that the world is divided between people who make things happen and people to whom things happen,” he said.

What occurred in his birth province – the deaths and the illness and the hardships faced by those who unknowingly went into the mines to work – was “classic fodder” for a journalist.  “A handful of important people made things happen and a large number of people who were sort of vulnerable had things happen to them – tragic things –and the practice of journalism, which I believe is a public service that’s actually exercised for the benefit of the public … is a service industry or a service profession. And I always sort of felt that my first duty was to the people, that was why I did what I did for a living.”

That directive has followed him throughout his career, he added. It didn’t matter if it was writing fiction or non-fiction really, he shared. 

“That comes first in all my thinking on how to tell the story, or what stories to tell. And the books that I decided I wanted to write, whether they be fiction or nonfiction, I wanted them to be from the point of view of the people to whom things happen to and not necessarily from the point of view of people who make things happen.” 

Dissecting Relationships

His latest, The Winter Wives, is a good example of that. In the novel, two old friends get together for a weekend of golfing. During a long night of drinking, the fault lines between them start to show, one of the biggest: the two men married sisters with one being the sister both of them loved. Where did this story spin from? 

“We’re all interested in relationships and relationships are made up of individuals and relationships are formed when certain individuals are either anxious to know or think they really know another individual. Every relationship, whether it’s a friendship or a marriage or a business venture, those first impressions that are made between two people are very important because any meeting can become a lasting relationship.”

It’s when we think we know a person that things “get interesting,” he added.  

“It’s almost to be taken for granted that first impressions are very incomplete. And we think when we’re very young that we really, really know another person. Without spoiling, they all learn that their friend is not who they think he is at all in many ways … and that’s a huge discovery to make.” The book, while more dramatic and frantic than what many face in real life, certainly touches on things we deal with. “I think (The Winter Wives) touches on an awful lot of the challenges and conundrums in our lives. Why do we care about one another and how many shocks and surprises should we expect any relationship to absorb and survive?” 

We ask where the passion for storytelling came from. A natural-born talent? 

“I grew up on the East Coast, like yourself. You grow up in a storytelling culture with oral tradition. When I was little, kids liked to get the attention of adults and when I was growing up, the surest way to get the attention of an adult would be to be a good musician, like a fiddle player, or every so often you would notice that if you had something important or interesting to say, it didn’t matter if you were eight years old or 28 years old, people would listen if you told it well.”

Storytelling and music were two things that attracted the respect of older people, even if it was a kid that was doing it, he added. He quickly learned what worked.

“I had this thing about storytelling from the very beginning and it was what interested me in journalism early on in life. I was interested in all writing, but to write a novel? I would promptly starve to death back in those days. So I told stories that you got paid for telling. 

“And over time I now look back and say the timing worked out quite well because with journalism, you acquire a lot of experience and you meet a lot of people who eventually become useful, raw material for writing fiction that is fact based. And so that’s I guess the answer to your question. My body of work is just one bunch of stories that I’ve been telling for a long, long time using various formats.” 

For more visit penguinrandomhouse.ca 

By Cameron Kilfoy

“I loved books; that’s where it started for me,” shared Mike Martin, Newfoundland native and author of book series Sgt. Windflower Mysteries. “I always felt an urge to write. I almost felt a need to write, if I wasn’t writing I didn’t feel comfortable.”

LOVE FOR LITERATURE

Martin’s love for literature came to him at a young age. He grew up in town with three of his older sisters, two of whom were teachers. He says they would take him to the library as a youth and it became his favourite place. Martin describes his time spent at the library as magical. “I connected with the fact that I could create my own reality or a world that was much different than the one I was living in,” said Martin.

That’s where it all started for Martin. He too wanted to recreate this feeling he had for others to give them their escape.

He began writing short stories as a child, with aspirations of becoming an author. During these early days, he had a fear of being judged and wasn’t comfortable showing his work to just anyone, but he didn’t let that stop him.

As he became an adult, he moved to Ottawa to continue his career as a writer. Martin started as a freelancer, writing wherever he could for whomever he could. He did speech writing, policy papers, articles, and news clippings.

One day Martin had enough. He decided it was time to break down the walls of fear and share his work.

“I was in my 40s when I looked at my partner and said ‘I’m a writer,’” explained Martin. “My partner said ‘yes I know,’ and I said ‘no I mean it, I am going to do this, I am going to do this now.’”

Martin wrote his story and shipped it off to every publication he could until it was finally picked up. A small trade publication published the piece and he was paid 15 dollars for his work.
Although it wasn’t much, that was all the encouragement Martin needed.

RELATED: BOOKS
Writing World | Emily Hepditch’s ‘Alone on the Trail’
Reigniting the Flame: Dildo Delights
The Hanged Woman’s Author

DREAMS OF WRITING

He decided then it was time to start working on his first book. He had always dreamed of writing a great piece of fiction, but it wasn’t working.

Martin’s partner introduced him to the world of mystery novels, which he had never completely dived into. He said he found a formula when reading mystery stories, one that fit his writing agenda.

“It gave me this box that I could draw in and that’s where I started from,” said Martin.
Although he had the formula and his creative box, it wasn’t until Martin returned home to Newfoundland that he found his inspiration.

“My partner is not from Newfoundland,” said Martin. “I found out her father was and that he was from Grand Bank and we started going out there regularly about 15 years ago.”

STORIES OF THE PAST

Martin quickly became interested in the history of Grand Bank. He found the small town intriguing, and he fell in love with the stories of the past he heard floating around. He thought that this would be the perfect setting for his novel.

As time passed he and his partner bought and restored her grandfather’s house so they would have a place to stay while in the province. Through exploring the community one night the idea for his main character came to him.

“One night as I was walking around down by the wharf, through the fog, it just hit me,” said Martin. “The idea for Sgt. Winston Windflower. The character had just come to me. Now that I had that I could begin writing.”

Now, with his main character, Martin could begin creating.

Unlike most authors, Martin approached writing this story differently. With no end in mind, he says he knew how he wanted the novel to start and what direction he wanted to head in, but he also wanted to go on this journey with the character and surprise himself along the way.

WALKER ON THE CAPE

For his first novel, The Walker on the Cape, Martin drew inspiration from a story he had heard during his time in Grand Bank. A man who was walking through the cape suddenly dropped and died of a heart attack.

“A lot of these stories have come from things I’ve heard in Grand Bank,” said Martin. “Many people didn’t believe the man had a heart attack that night, so that’s what I did. I took a true local occurrence and told a different story from it.”

With the journey of the first book concluding, Martin was unsure of how he wanted the novel to end.

“People say that the beginning of the novel is the hardest,” said Martin. “But, how do you end a book? I was struggling with that part. My partner suggested that I turn it into a series and I thought, ‘that’s great.’ I can solve the mystery, but I can also leave the anticipation that there is more to come.”

And that’s exactly what Martin did.

SAFE HARBOUR

With 10 books in the series and counting, Martin’s latest installment of Sgt. Windflower Mysteries, Safe Harbour, is available now.

The newest addition to the series takes a different spin on Windflower. The main antagonist has left

Grand Bank and has found himself stationed in St. John’s. Through the novel you see a side of Windflower we have not quite seen yet, watching him as he adjusts to his new roles as a husband and as a father. Through every novel we can see growth. Growth from Windflower and the series and growth from Martin as an author. That’s what has captured his audience.

“It was about four or five books in before I noticed. People became attached to the story and many people who read the first book kept following through and keeping up with the Windflower news,” said Martin. “When it’s close to home it is easy to connect with.”

Martin considers his novels to be special, and with the connection from his audience, Martin has created a new reality to share with others.

With no stop in mind, an eleventh installment will be added to the series this coming fall. Martin did not want to give too much away about the upcoming novel. He preferred to keep it a mystery.

“I never intended on making the book a series,” said Martin. “As I wrote the stories I remembered something – that a character does not die. The story does not die, until the writer dies.”

Written over a two-year period beginning in 2019 as something of a creative outlet, Hodder has handled all facets of this personal journey, from promotion to and self-publishing and all things in between. The Herald caught up with Hodder for a glimpse into his literary process: the highs and lows of the independent author, and his desire to create larger-than-life storytelling. 

Embarking on a career in writing is quite the process in and of itself, but releasing your debut novel independently is something else entirely. How much more rewarding, yet scary, is that process for you? 

“It certainly is. Initially, you feel as though you have nothing to lose. You sit down, you begin to write, and your ideas just pour onto the pages. But halfway through the process, when you get that first writers-block, that’s when panic sets it. And you quickly realize that you’ve invested all your time into a project where writing it is merely the beginning.

What happens when you’re “finished”? Who do you hire to edit it? What graphic designers are out there to polish your cover and typeset your manuscript? Who do you even contact to print this thing? These were all questions I had to ask myself weekly. Luckily, I’m not one to shy away from getting my foot in the door. I seized every opportunity and squeezed every contact I had to find each avenue I could to make this book a success. And it’s because of that struggle that I feel my book holds my passion within its pages. I worked my hardest for every word you’ll read inside. My reward is knowing you did!” 

RELATED: POPULAR
Mad About Majumder
Meet the Mainland Kitchen Band
Hold Fast: NTV’s Kelly-Anne Roberts

As an emerging fiction writer based in NL, how important was it for you to create something that appeals to the readers of this province, while also standing out amidst a crowded block of talented authors?

“My goal for this novel was to take the Newfoundland readers on a journey around the world; take them to places they may never in their lifetime get the chance to visit in person. 

A lot of Newfoundland literature embodies our heritage, our cultural past, or touches on our rural communities, and as much as I respect those stories and what they add to our literary scene, personally, I wanted to deviate from that until the story required it.

My novel will drop you smack dab in the middle of New York City, and before you know it, you’re on a mountaintop in Peru; one chapter you’re in a middle eastern temple, while the next your witnessing buildings implode to the ground. And after all the dust settles, just when you think you’ve got the whole story figured out, you’ll realize … you’re home.”

What were some of the major surprises for you – good or bad – about this debut foray into novel-writing? 

“Mhmm. I don’t think I was prepared for the complexity of the process. I’d read my own work over 10, if not 15 times, and I’d be convinced it was perfect. Then I’d send it to my editor, and she’d return it with, oh I don’t know, 10,000 mistakes! All of which needed correction of course. I’d get emotional, thinking I had done something wrong, especially due to my being novice. Without having a literary background or English degree, I wasn’t prepared for how raw my piece of work would actually be to a professional. However, ultimately, that is the process. You do your best, make the mistakes, watch how they get corrected, and you learn from it. 

That is something I’ll definitely be more mentally prepared for next time. Going in blind this on this first attempt, I had no idea what to expect. But now, my expectations will be set a little lower, and much more realistic (in a good way!)”

Now that you’ve finished The Mists of Morne, would you consider this to be the start of a series? 

“Definitely! One thing I did not want to do with my first novel was back myself into a corner. I knew from the start that I wanted to create characters and situations in which I could expand on, continue forward with, or have the target audience crave more of. Without spoiling anything, everyone should know that there is much more out there in the fictional world I’ve built yet to be discovered. Think of this novel as the one that opens the floodgates, so to speak.

An Owens Odyssey is simply indicative that when someone strives to be successful, such as my main protagonist, Emily Owens, it’s never a one-and-done. There are so many angles and twists and trials and triumphs that must be achieved before you reach the pedestal in which you consider yourself deserving to sit. 

As applicable as that is to my character’s story, so it is in writing. Making a name for yourself is one thing … upholding it is another!”

“My goal for this novel was to take the Newfoundland readers on a journey around the world; take them to places they may never in their lifetime get the chance to visit in person.”

Justin Hodder

Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?

“I’d like to thank The Herald for their generosity and willingness in helping me get this article out there to the wider public of readers. As hard as I’ve worked to craft an enticing piece of literature, in the end, a novel is only as good as its audience. As a self-publishing author, I call on you, the readers, to support me on the final stretch of my journey.

Success means many things to different people, so for me, I’ll consider it a win if even just one person reads this work and thinks to themselves: ‘That was mystical. That was thrilling. That was something I haven’t read before from a local writer.'”

Visit Hodder on Facebook and Instagram for much more!